Socrative – a neat tool for student feedback

I recently learned about the tool Socrative, and have started using it in my math classes as a closure activity (something quick at the end of class for students to summarize the lesson and give me quick feedback). I’ll give a quick pros and cons rundown from my perspective.

Pros:

• Low overhead for me and students: easy to set up and use
• Does all the data work for me
• Flexible – I use as an exit ticket, but you can use it for quizzes or surveys
• My students are already familiar with it

Cons:

• My students don’t like it — perhaps due to how it is used in other classes?
• Possible information overload
• Students don’t always take it seriously unless it will be graded
• Requires everyone to get their computer or phone out, which I usually discourage

I’ll keep using it in Math 9 for a while to see whether I continue to keep liking it. Here’s a screenshot of the Excel file it creates (names removed, click to enlarge):